$10B Summit Financial’s 3X Growth in 4-Years: The Story Behind the Rise of a 42-Year-Old RIA

The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors

With Ed Friedman, Director of Business Development and Growth at Summit Financial

Overview

The Director of Business Development and Growth, Ed Friedman, shares the secret sauce driving Summit’s growth surge. It’s a perspective on the evolved independent space, with actionable advice on culture, outsourcing, the value of minority investors, and other essential insights for advisors and business owners.

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NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation.

About this episode…

Many advisors still consider independence to be a “new” model, yet they’re decades off the mark.

Independence has gained incredible steam recently, catalyzed by a continually growing ecosystem born to support breakaway advisors, making the leap much less difficult and far more attractive.

While we often share the narratives of the advisors who made the leap to independence, many of their stories offer a perspective on a business less than a decade old.

But this story is different because Summit Financial is an independent firm that launched in 1982. With decades under its belt, the firm has demonstrated that independence is the real deal, with the staying power to thrive in an industry that notoriously lacks stability and continuity.

And what’s of greater significance is the fact that they’ve continued to innovate and grow—proven by the firm’s 3X rise to $10B in assets in the last 4 years.

So, what’s behind this tremendous growth? And what does the future hold for Summit Financial?

Ed Friedman, the Director of Business Development and Growth at Summit, joins the episode to answer that and more.

Ed is best positioned to offer a glimpse into the firm’s secret sauce to success. He’s charged with winning over advisors who have their sights set on greater freedom and flexibility, but aren’t interested in building their own independent firm.

In the episode with Louis Diamond, Ed offers a unique point of view on the industry and his own journey, as well as:

• His decades of experience with some of the biggest names in the business: Morgan Stanley, Hightower Advisors, and Dynasty Financial Partners—and how that influences his work with Summit today.
• The evolution of independent models—and how Summit’s trajectory has changed over the years.
• The value of a culture driven by advisors—and how that creates a differentiator between Summit and other supported independence models.
• The keys to Summit’s extraordinary growth—and what made the last few years some of the most successful in the firm’s history.

Plus, Ed shares actionable advice on growth, outsourcing, the value of minority investors, and more—with essential insights for advisors and business owners alike.

Want to learn more about where, why, and how advisors like you are moving? Click to contact us or call 908-879-1002.

Related Resources

What Advisors Should Focus on to Maximize the Value of Their Practice: An Investment Banker’s Guidance
Dan Seivert of ECHELON Partners offers perspective to help advisors better understand their business’s value drivers and how to maximize each, even if you aren’t interested in going independent or selling your business.

Assessing the Gap Between Where You Are and Where You Want to Be
A four-step process for financial advisors who are feeling the “pain of incongruence.”

Diamond Consultants 2023 Advisor Transition Report
An Update on Advisor Movement in the Wealth Management Industry.

Ed Friedman
Director of Growth and Business Development

Ed Friedman is the Director of Business Development and Growth at Summit Financial LLC. Ed is a financial services industry veteran with decades of experience in advancing advisor’s practices and supporting their growth. Prior to Summit, Ed Friedman ran his own consulting business, providing consulting services including operational, business, growth and technology strategies to Independent Wealth Management firms and the strategic vendors that support them. At Dynasty Financial Partners, Ed was the National Director of Practice Management and former Director of the Enterprise Group with a focus on wealth management firms in excess of $1 Billion in assets. Ed was also part of the founding management team at HighTower Advisors heading up business development and advisor development. Before the launch of HighTower, Ed had a 22-year career at Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firm with roles as a financial Advisor, branch manager and senior executive management. Ed is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA in Business and Finance.

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